Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Totem \To"tem\, n. [Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to
   which a person or place belongs.]
   A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the
   North American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a
   family or a clan.

         And they painted on the grave posts Of the graves, yet
         unforgotten, Each his own ancestral totem Each the
         symbol of his household; Figures of the bear and
         reindeer, Of the turtle, crane, and beaver.
                                                  --Longfellow.

         The totem,the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some
         supernatural way attends to the clan and watches over
         it.                                      --Bagehot.

Source : WordNet®

totem
     n 1: a clan identified by their kinship to a common totemic
          object
     2: emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant;
        serves as the symbol of a family or clan (especially among
        American Indians)